West bids farewell as "Voice of the Bulldogs"

For the past 13 seasons, Wayne County native Josh West has served Holmes Community College and the Holmes CC Football Radio Network well but due to family obligations, he has announced the 2020 season was his last as the play-by-play voice of the Bulldogs.

West was instrumental in setting up the Holmes CC Football Radio Network with Boswell Media owner Johnny Boswell of Kosciusko. The network serves over a million residents with stations in Kosciusko (101.1 FM), in Grenada (100.1 FM) and in Flora (103.9 FM). Breck Riley of Kosciusko will be the new voice of the Bulldogs, and West's longtime color commentator both at Holmes and Tri-County Academy Cliff Barker will continue in that capacity.

West began calling Holmes football during the 2008 season.

"I was so excited to be calling college football, and that feeling never left at Holmes," West said. "Whether we were rebuilding or bowl champs the people made it so enjoyable. When I started doing play-by-play, I enjoyed painting the picture and telling that story in the game, but as the years went on it was all about being an encouragement to the coaches, players, parents and faculty and staff I got to work with."

When asked what he'll remember about his time at Holmes, West said he could reflect on the games he called but it's been the relationships he has built during this time that's the most memorable.

"I would have to say the most memorable moments were the road trips with Steve, Chris, Jay, Cliff, Breck, Barin and others, and the pre-game meals, and the coach's shows, and after the coach's shows, and catching up with the coaches after interviews mid-week, the meeting with advertisers," West said. "It was always about the relationships, the people, the laughter. Now, I consider everyone I worked with to be a friend and that is what is going to be the most difficult, not seeing my friends as much."

He said moving on was not a hard decision because he had many reasons to do so, and those are admiral.

"Stepping aside was always going to be surreal, but I don't know if people will believe me when I say it isn't as hard as you think it should be," West said. "When I was coming up 15 years ago in the business, I wasn't afforded certain opportunities and that really impacted me to the point of saying, 'If I ever have an opportunity to help others succeed in this business I am.'

"In this case, since I have moved to Petal, that means not putting the burden of four additional hours of midnight travel to the games, and stepping aside and letting a more than capable Breck Riley step in and continue his natural progression up the ladder," he explained. "If Holmes had been in need, I would have been willing to kill myself to help, but Breck is more than ready to assume the role of 'Radio Voice of the Bulldogs'. It was a memorable run, and I will forever be grateful to Steve, Johnny and Dr. Haffey for the trust they put in me, but remember I am still in the bullpen if you need me, and Breck and Cliff will continue to carry on the championship level broadcasts for years to come."

Holmes Community College Associate Athletic Director for External Relations Steve Diffey said West would certainly be missed.

"Josh has done an outstanding job for us over the years," Diffey said. "When Josh told me he was not going to be able to continue doing our games due to family obligations, I was very proud for him and the opportunities coming to his family. I could have been 'that guy' and been sad, but I couldn't or wouldn't do that to him because he is such an amazing guy and a great friend. I knew we were losing a great one, but I knew it was something he needed to do.

"When I knew he was gone for sure, I immediately reached out to some colleagues in south Mississippi and told them they were would be ignorant if they didn't get him on their broadcast teams as soon as possible," he said. "Josh's resume is phenomenal, and he can take broadcasts at a high school, college or a professional team to a whole different level. Not having him in the van with us on road trips or in the booth for home games is going to be weird for sure, but I know Breck and Cliff will do the Bulldogs proud each and every broadcast."

West will stay connected to the College doing voiceover work. He has also served as the commencement graduation announcer for the last three years.

West's resume is impressive doing play-by-play for high schools and colleges all over the state of Mississippi including baseball, football, basketball, baseball and softball for Tri-County on WYAB 103.9; football, basketball, baseball, girls soccer for Ridgeland High School on WYAB; basketball and baseball for Madison Central on WYAB; basketball for Canton High School School and Canton Academy on WMGO 1370 AM; Jackson Academy basketball on SuperSport 930 AM; Mississippi Braves on SuperSport 930 AM; Mississippi College football on WPBQ 1240 AM; Jackson Prep football on WPBQ 1240 AM; sales for three stations for Sunbelt Broadcasting on WJCU-FM 104.9 FM; football, basketball, baseball for Columbia Academy on WCJU-AM  1400 AM; sports at Prentiss Christian and Prentiss High School on WJDR-FM 98.3 FM ; public address for Wayne Academy; football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, soccer, track and field, cross county and softball on the NFHS Network; statewide football games on the FNUTL (Friday Night Under the Lights); women's basketball for 10 seasons and one season of softball, volleyball and soccer at USM along with some baseball and basketball games over the years.

During his time on the mic for the Bulldogs, West has worked at least part-time in sales at WYAB in Flora since 2004. In 2018, he began a business development job for EC Malone Roofing and remained there until Spring 2021 when he took a sales job at TC Marketing in Ridgeland. TC Marketing is a family and veteran owned business located in Ridgeland with over 25 years' experience in flame resistant uniforms and corporate apparel. Flame resistant vendors include: Carhartt, Ariat, Wrangler, Bulwark, LAPCO, NSA, NASCO, Dragonwear and many other suppliers while their corporate apparel vendors include: Nike, Callaway, Port Authority, Tri-Mountain, The North Face, Eddie Bauer, Cutter & Buck, Red Kap, Dickies, Outdoor Cap, Richardson Cap, and many other suppliers.

They also have over 3,000 distributors for promotional products, and offers embroidery and screen-printing services, individual pack by employee name and can customize our website to view or place orders. "Our motto is and has always been, 'Once you come to us, you will never need to go anywhere else,'" he said.

West holds a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism and a sports coaching minor.

He and his wife, Stacey, have been married for 15 years and have one son, Elijah, 13, who will be in the eighth grade at Petal Middle School.

Along with his day job at TC Marketing, he will continue calling football games for Tri-County Academy and for the NFHS Network. He is also helping build a new church in the Petal area called Normal Church. "We are wanting to be obedient to having a church the way God intends it to be," he said.